² He has to wait until the time that his father has decided. Until then, the son has to obey his teachers and the guides who take care of him. ³ In the same way, we were children like that in God's family. We were slaves to the bad spirits that rule this world. ⁴ But when the time that God had decided arrived, he sent his Son into the world. A human mother gave birth to him. He was born a Jew, under the authority of God's Law.